


The Name of Albion

by kiahood



Series: The Name of Albion [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: 1950s, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/M, Mystery, Reincarnation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-05 13:49:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3122492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiahood/pseuds/kiahood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knew about the famous parties of Mister Albion, yet no one seemed to bother what his actual name was and why he always threw those parties. No one, except for one - Morgana Winters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

 

Curiosity is a characteristic that all possess, yet what we do with it lies in our hands and our hands alone. Each of us has a choice on how to deal with said curiosity, whether we ignore it or give in to it and that is absolutely fine. However, life is a much greater adventure when letting curiosity lead us, because it is curiosity alone that opens so many new paths that we would be blind to otherwise. Fortunately, that is something my mother taught me when I was a young girl, new to a world led by men and their will. Although my mother had lived up to the picture of an ideal woman, she had always told me to live life however it made me happy, despite what other people thought of it. That quickly became the motto of my life, something I was still living by after all those years had passed.

My mother had passed away in my teenage years and it was then when I had needed her the most, for the time had come when men told me how to dress, what to do and what to think. I did not like it at all and was fortunate enough to remember my mother's words, even though I sometimes got rather insecure about my attitude. But I never gave in to what they said. Although I did dress nicely and respected men, there was not a single second where I let anyone control my mind. Even when I had reached my early twenties and was told to finally get married, I was not letting the pressure prevent me from following my true dream: to become a writer. Stories had always made my days brighter, when I was younger for their stories and as I grew older it was not only the stories, but also the language that made me fall in love with all the books that fell into my hands. To read about the most terrifying monsters and mythical creatures was my greatest pleasure, to imagine those unique worlds a dream. How I longed for my life to be as interesting as that of one of the many characters I had read about.

Unfortunately, when I was younger there was no such interesting character living around the corner, after all everyone was obsessively trying their very best to fit the ideal image of their gender and to become a highly esteemed part of society. Oh, how those dull people bore me! But when I was seventeen I first heard about him, the man that stirred up my curiosity more than any character ever has, most likely due to the fact that he was real. The man that would change my life so deeply was the greatest mystery around. He lived in what people described as a _fairytale castle_ , him being _Prince Charming_ , which caught my attention immediately. Little was known about him and certainly no one would know of his existence either, had he not thrown regular parties each month to which everyone was invited to come. Of course I had immediately been excited by the idea of a Londoner version of _Jay Gatsby_ , which made me want to meet this mysterious man more than any other man in the world. Whenever I had asked people who had went to one of his parties, all they could tell me was that he was the most handsome man they had ever laid eyes on, living in the most charming mansion. Of course I had additionally asked several people about his name and, to add to the entire mystery, all they knew was that his last name was Albion. What a strange name. But that was exactly what fitted the image of the mystery man rather than an average name you hear from every third person you meet on the street. Of course my father, an important business man, knew of my desire to meet this Mister Albion, but he did not let me go to one of his parties, for I was a single woman and all the women that would be at those parties were there only to accompany their husbands. And what image would that be of me, to go there all by myself without knowing anyone? But I was determined to go. The fact that I was not yet married bothered my father a lot, especially since he introduced me to men whenever he got the chance to. Despite his ambitious tries, I had never settled down with any of the men he brought with him, after all they were but average dolls without a personality. Although women were to get married and support their husbands in every way, I was not going to spend my life with a man that bored me to death in addition to commanding me around.

My head full of fantasy places and the most unique people, I was obviously eager to meet this Mister Albion sooner or later. My father did not let me go alone and I had spent a great amount of nights lying in bed and thinking of strategies to sneak out of the house and run to this fairytale mansion to unravel those mysteries that had awoken my deepest curiosity, but nothing I had come up with was going to work well enough. It then felt like destiny when I was given the opportunity of my life. My good friend, Scott Graham, a talented singer, was asked to perform at one of Mister Albion's parties. Knowing of my desire to go, Scott asked my father to have me join him for support.

“Well,” said my father thoughtfully, “I always told her I would not let her go unless she was married, in order to prevent her from being an outcast, but I suppose that if you two go there together it will be enough. Besides, it would definitely be nice for my daughter to meet some new people and maybe find a role model in one of the women there.”

My excitement kept me from lecturing my father about the fact that I was never going to even want to look up to a woman that dedicated her life to a satisfy her husband in every way, especially since he knew that already, he had simply not given up on his hope yet.

After that conversation I invited Scott to a drink and so we went to our usual place and sat down at the bar.

“I will be for ever in your debt,” I told him with a grateful smile.

“I think we both know that you would never let yourself be in the debt of a man,” he refused with a light giggle ere he took a pull on his cigarette.

Although Scott was completely correct with his statement, it did not keep me from being thankful for him. The party was a week from that night and I already started picturing it. Not to get out the wrong picture, I was not yearning for this stranger's love, nor was I going to throw myself at him. There were simply so many things I wanted to know about him, not only because I did not know much about him, but because no one knew much about him.

I spent the following nights imagining what he would be like, what his name was and, most importantly, who he truly was. While Gatsby was a man throwing parties in order to find his long-lost love again, I did not imagine Mister Albion to have the same reasons, yet my mind was unable to imagine what could possibly drive a man to have those fancy parties for everyone without letting anyone to get to know him. My mind was going crazy about the excitement that came with my curiosity that would soon hopefully get some answers.

 


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

 

The night I had dreamed about for so long finally arrived. I had some minutes left until Scott would come to pick me up, wherefore I looked at myself in the mirror to make sure everything looked alright. Given the special occasion of not being in my room by myself or having a drink with friends, I had decided to put more effort into my appearance than usual. Although I always dressed nicely, wore makeup and did my hair, I made sure everything looked better tonight. Despite my insecurities about the white-dotted cocktail dress at first, the red color of it matched the dark color of my lips perfectly. Scott complimented me while gaping when he picked me up, shaking his head in disbelief.

“You look absolutely gorgeous.”

With a small giggle I took the compliment, “Thank you.”

 

The two of us got into his car and drove to the outskirts of London, where the mysterious mansion was located. The ride took some time, which I spend with looking out of the window into the starlit sky as I wondered what the stars where holding out for me tonight. It was not long until we arrived at our destination, driving up the long driveway surrounded by small pieces of green with the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. Scott pulled the car to a stop near the entrance and once we got out, the two of us marveled at the sight. The mansion lived up to its description. The old building had three floors, lights filling the lowest one and giving it life. After a moment of taking the marvelous sight in, Scott and I walked up the wide case of stairs that led up to the enormous front door. As soon as Scott opened the door we stepped inside and were immediately greeted by a big crowd of guests that were enjoying each other's company and were dancing to rock'n'roll that filled the big mansion. I slowly stepped aside, looked around at everything carefully to get a better picture of the entire situation, while Scott left me alone to go take over from the currently playing band.

My father was certainly right: Everywhere I looked I saw nothing but couples practically sticking together. The interior design was rather funny, a mixture of vintage and modern found their place in there, yet it was a strangely perfect combination. I went to the other rooms that were on the ground floor, none of them having any pictures in them whatsoever. There were only a few paintings and other decorations filling the empty walls, some of which seemed rather antique, which made me conclude that this man must have been a cultivated traveler of some sorts. Yet the absence of photographs disturbed me slightly. If he was a traveler, why would he not have a great amount of photographs showing him in different countries?

“Good evening, Miss, can I get you anything, a drink or maybe a snack?” Asked a voice, ripping me out of my stream of thoughts.

When I turned around I came to face a small and friendly-looking man in his early thirties. By his white outfit I decided that he must work in the kitchen. With a small smile I shook my head politely, “No, thank you.”

“You seem a little lost,” he noted in a non-offensive way, “If you shall require anything, the dining room, which is directly next to this room, has a bar from which you can get whatever you like.”

“I was just looking around. It is my first time here,” I explained before thanking him in hope of getting rid of him that way, “That is very kind of you.”

He smiled at me politely before leaving me alone again. It made sense that a man that owned a mansion of this size would not live all on his own. He probably had more than just one cook, and they probably all lived in the mansion with him. Just why would a single man require a cook?

When I figured that there was nothing in the living room that would get me any answers, I decided to get a drink after all. I could hear that Scott was not yet singing, so I decided to look for him and give him a drink, too.

Scanning the room for Scott, I soon spotted him near where the current band was playing. Although I had expected him to stand there on his own, simply listening to the music, I instead found him talking to someone. It was a strange picture, since I could not remember Scott mentioning knowing anyone that planned on coming to the party tonight. It was not taking long for me to cross the room to where Scott was standing, calling out his name from behind to get his attention.

Both Scott and the stranger turned around and, led by curiosity, my eyes immediately fell on the stranger. He was handsome in a way I could not describe, which made me think that he might be the mysterious man I had been eager to meet for years. He seemed to be in his late twenties. His dark hair was messy unlike that of other men, but his suit was more than fashionable. His eyes were of a deep blue, but there was more to them than just the color. There was some kind of wisdom in them, but also surprise.

“Morgana,” Scott started, breaking the moment of the stranger and I staring at another without noticing how much time had passed, “This is Mister Albion, the owner of the mansion and party host. Mister Albion, this is my good friend, Miss Morgana Winters, whom I have just mentioned.”

Instead of either of us saying anything, we just continued staring at another, for what reason I did not know other than that I could not look away. There was something in his eyes that prevented me from looking away as if I they had cast a spell on me. But I did not mind, for there was something magical in his eyes that was beyond my comprehension to explain.

“Anyway, looks like it's my turn now,” Scott continued when the band finished their song. Even now, neither Mister Albion nor I paid much attention to what Scott said, nor did either of us look away.

“This is your first time here, if I am not mistaken?” Mister Albion finally spoke, with a voice deep and calm like no other, which caught me a little bit by surprise, although frankly, it matched perfectly to his mysteriousness.

“Y-yes, indeed it is,” I slightly stuttered after coming back to reality.

It was almost not visible, but his eyes seemed to have accepted the surprise and now turned rather sad and yet he smiled when he spoke, “I hope you are enjoying your time here.”

“I can't say that just yet,” I started, with caught him by surprise, wherefore I quickly added, “It's a lot to take in after all, I think I still need to get used to it.”

“It is, admittedly, a rather big house, I agree,” Mister Mystery confirmed with a light-hearted chuckle. It was quite the surprise that he was easy to talk to, when everyone barely knew anything about him.

“Anyway, I got drinks for Scott and myself, but now he's performing. Would you like to have his drink?” I offered, handing him the glass.

With a warm smile he took the glass, “Of course,” the dark-haired mystery replied ere taking a sip from the drink.

“What about you?” I asked, taking a sip myself.

He looked at me with a puzzled look, not understanding what I was talking about.

“Do you enjoy the party?”

He nodded to symbolize having understood now while taking another sip, “It would be rather unfortunate did I not.”

I was about to ask him yet another question, when an unfamiliar voice called Mister Albion while approaching us, making the two of us look at him.

“Sorry for interrupting, but there is an important phone call you must take,” stated the blond young man.

He nodded, then turned back to me with a warm smile and said, “Excuse me, Miss Winters,” before going up the wide stairs that led to the upper floor.

As I watched him jog upstairs, I did not notice the blond man taking a step closer to me, “It's hard to imagine, but this guy is always busy doing God-knows-what.”

My eyes turned to the man after Mister Albion disappeared from my sight.

“I am Victor Gray, I work for Mister Albion,” the blond then introduced himself as he held out his hand for me.

I shook it with a polite smile before returning the gesture, “Morgana Winters. You do not seem to be a cook, what is your job then?”

The man giggled, “I most certainly am not a cook, or else you would have to pity Mister Albion. No, I am his personal assistant.”

“Really? It is a bit of a surprise for a single man to occupy a cook and an assistant in his mansion,” I admitted, hoping Victor would tell me more.

“Actually, he occupies more than just a cook and an assistant. He has got several cooks and other staff, too. As I said, he is a busy man.”

The new bit of information silenced me. There was nothing special about having a cook and an assistant as someone as wealthy as Mister Albion seemed to be, yet to have even more staff? Instead of getting any answers, new questions formed in my head, and so my curiosity grew.

“And although it may seem for a man to occupy several people for only himself, one of the staff recently moved away and it has been a bit of a mess ever since.”

“How so?”

“She was the one that always organized the parties by creating the shopping list and going shopping and all.”

That made sense, probably the first thing that had made sense since I had arrived at the party. Though, if there was a number of staff, it should not be a problem to find someone to take over the job, “Is there no one else that can do the job?”

“You would be surprised by how busy everyone is. We apparently did manage to get everything for today, but the entire month has been nothing but stress, it is more than a surprise that we actually made it,” Victor continued with exhaustion and relief visible in his eyes.

With an uplifting smile I answered, “Well, I am sure you will find someone to do the job.”

His eyes suddenly seemed to sparkle as a huge smile formed on his face, “Oh, Miss Winters! You would not happen to be interested in doing the job, would you?”

The request took me by great surprise, yet it was not only flattering, but also the perfect opportunity for me to unravel all there was to Mister Albion. Besides the fact that it simplified reaching my goal, an occupation would be more than I could ask for.

“That is a very lovely offer, but I don't have any experience with organizing parties and everything to it.”

“But I do,” Victor cheered optimistically, “I could teach you all there is to it. It isn't very complicated, you would simply have to go through the cook books and calculate how much we need of everything and buy it, and the pay is not bad either.”

Clearly Victor tried to get me to do the job, which meant they must have been quite desperate, if they already started asking random party guests.

“Why would you ask me?”

“Well,” Victor took a quick look around, “Everyone here is married, the men already have well-paid jobs, all of them probably keep their wives from having a job and I saw you and Mister Albion talk, he seemed to enjoy the conversation and from what I have heard you are not married, which gives me great chance that nothing keeps you from taking the job. Except, of course, if you do not wish to live in this mansion, since all the staff lives here. Yet I doubt that is what keeps you from accepting my offer.”

With a small chuckle I shook my head, “It is definitely a charming idea. I just wouldn't want to mess the next parties up is all.”

“No worries, Miss Winters,” said Victor with confidence, “Someone taking the job is much needed, it is almost impossible to mess them up more then if the rest of us had to try doing this together again.”

My eyes wandered through the gigantic hall, amazed by its size and the amount of people enjoying the party. If I returned next month as a party guest again, I would be hardly noticed, which would make it much harder for me to get to Mister Albion. The job was the key to the path I sought and so I nodded, “Then I gladly accept your offer.”

His smile turned even bigger now, “Please, follow me then, so we can make all the arrangements necessary.”

I nodded before following him to the corner of the floor, to a small room. Inside was a desk and a few shelves, to which he walked over. He got out a pile of pages, which I assumed to be a contract. Victor placed said contract on the table and offered me to sit, “Please read and sign where it says so. Everything you must know stands in there. I will leave you to it and return in a few minutes.”

I nodded again before he left and then sat down at the desk to read through the pages.

 

The contract was not as long as I had expected it to be, which was a relief. As soon as I had signed everywhere, Victor entered the room again with a plate filled with food.

“Are you done?” He asked ere taking another bite from his food.

I got up and handed him the contract, “All done.”

“Perfect. Since it's Friday, you shall move in on Monday. The bedroom you will get already has all the furniture needed, so you will only need to bring your clothes and other personal items you wish to bring. Do you have any questions?”

“No, everything's clear,” I replied and then we shook hands to make it official.

“Very well, then, Miss Winters, I am very glad you decided to take the job. I shall show you around and teach you everything you need to know of Monday, seeing as it is a little crowded right now,” Victor declared then.

Now I could not wait until Monday, when I would finally be able to start figuring out the secrets of Mister Albion, “I am looking much forward to it.”

“I will leave you to the party then.”

Before I could say anything in return Victor left the little bureau and disappeared into the crowd. I, too, left the room, closing the door behind me. Mister Albion did not seem to have returned yet, wherefore I simply watched Scott perform.

 

I spent the evening talking to the other couples at the party, most of them were very lovely people. One of the things I found out was that not all of them were from London, some of them traveled far just to be at the party. Although aware of the popularity of these parties, it did catch me by surprise that some came from far off towns. Clearly I was not the only person that was interested in the host either, for everyone gossiped about who Mister Albion was and why he threw all these fancy parties. Nonetheless that was all to it, for most of them preferred making up wild stories rather than seriously trying to find out the truth. What I noticed, to my amusement, was that whenever the women talked about how handsome Mister Albion looked, their husbands always turned bright red out of envy. Not that they would have to fear being left by their wives anyway, seeing as barely anyone ever got a divorce. The man did not get one because they were dependent on having someone that cooked and cleaned for them and whatnot, and the woman because society would turn their back on them if they decided to _abandon_ their man. Therefore most people remained together, even if they were unhappy with another, a concept I did not like at all, which was one of the many reasons I was not yet married.

“I bet he would make a wonderful husband,” cried one of the ladies as she most likely imagined herself married to Mister Albion and the two of them living the most picture perfect life.

Another woman agreed, “Very true, although I am afraid we have missed our opportunity. But Morgana, you are not married, are you?”

“Um, no,” I said, shaking my head.

“Then you should totally get him!” The woman continued cheerfully.

“I don't believe that not being in a relationship is the right reason to try to get someone,” I refused politely.

With a disappointed sigh another girl insisted, “Oh, come on, you might be young now, but that can change fast.”

“That Mister Albion is single _now_ ,” agreed another, “You should get him while he's available.”

If I did not know it before, I most certainly knew now that my father was right when he told me not to go to a party as an unmarried woman. These women, although they were only being nice, were getting on my nerves. It had always bothered me how a woman's life was supposed to be about finding a husband and pleasing him for the rest of their lives. Why did none of these women, who were all too lovely in ways that probably only I could see, realize their potential and used that to be their own person? That did not inquire them to leave their men, it simply meant to use their own voice instead of merely being a pretty slave. Yet these women were all convinced of the perfectness of their lifestyles, so what was I supposed to change about that? To be honest, there was not a single thing for me to do, not that it mattered to me too much.

“Personally, I think he is a fool,” said one of the women's husband.

“How so?” I asked, feeling as though his answer was about to make me laugh.

The man turned to me and, with an utterly serious voice, replied, “He's got a huge mansion, loads of money and yet he pays to have staff rather than a woman to do this.”

His answer did not make me laugh after all, instead I felt the urge to slap him, but he was not worth it. Besides, I knew better to stand up for myself than using violence, “Which proves him to be an even more decent man.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, “For he does not need to seduce a woman to have to support him, which makes him a man of honesty. Obviously you would not understand such decency.”

The man's face turned to a dark shade of red, whether it was out of embarrassment or rage, “What gives you the right to call me an indecent man? Aren't you the unmarried woman? I think you clearly say what you've said to make yourself feel better.”

“I am not the one yelling at a stranger to defend my pride,” I stated calmly. It had become an odd hobby of mine to anger men.

My comment had only added to his rage and he already approached me to do God-knows-what when suddenly the lights went out. At first everything got really quiet, but as the shock settled everyone started murmuring to another. But before anyone was able to panic too much the lights suddenly went on again as if nothing had happened in the first place.

Victor immediately rushed into the room and blurted, “Don't worry, everyone, it was just a little electricity cut, everything's fine.”

Then, the music started playing again and people went back to their conversations as if it was the most normal thing to happen. Which it was, in a way, of course electricity cuts happen from time to time, yet the timing of it had probably saved me from getting hit by that disgusting sexist. Then again, I was most likely reading to much into it. It was probably nothing more but a perfect coincidence. Yet I'd like to think more of it, seeing as it would only fit into the strangeness of everything that was connected to Mister Albion.

“I wonder how he got so rich,” thought a woman of my age out loud.

“Maybe he inherited his money?”

Another woman shook her head, “He doesn't seem like a man who simply inherited money. I am sure he earned it himself.”

My mind wandered off to my own world of thoughts because I knew it was pointless to listen to anyone's assumptions, seeing as they were nothing more than mere assumptions. With a sigh I took a sip from my drink as I looked through the room, hoping I could detect anything that would give me even the smallest clue. Yet besides his antiques and the various paintings there were no personal items that would tell anything about his character. I then decided to drop the topic for the night, after all I was about to move in to this mansion and work there, wherefore there was no need to hurry.

 

A little while later, Scott's performance was over and the two of us sat down at a table with some food and drinks.

“That was an incredible performance.”

Scott smiled in return to the compliment, “Thank you. I saw you had a little conversation with Mister Albion. What do you think about him?”

“We didn't talk much. But he seems very nice.”

“I take it you didn't find out a lot about him?”

“I did not.”

Scott looked at me silently for a few good seconds before continuing, “You don't seem to bother about that?”

“Actually,” I started, putting down my drink and leaning forward so not everyone would hear us, “I met Victor, who works here, and he offered me a job. Said the woman that used to plan the parties moved away and the staff can't quite manage without an extra. He was really desperate and since that is the best opportunity I could get, I accepted.”

“Are you serious?” He asked in disbelief, “Wow, that is incredible! Good for you.”

“I know, that is definitely going to help me in my researches. And I get paid too, there really is no downside to it,” I grinned with satisfaction about destiny's friendly plans with me. There honestly was nothing more I could ask for. The payment was incredible, especially for someone without any experience. Additionally, I had played with the thought of moving out long ago, which was the reason why I even more loved the idea of working in the mansion.

After taking a pull on his cigarette, Scott asked,“When will you start?”

“Monday.”

Scott started to chuckle and, once I looked at him quizzically, he explained with a sarcastic tone, “I am sure your father will be delighted to hear about your spontaneous plans of moving in and working for a man no one really knows.”

“Oh please,” I said, not agreeing with what Scott was getting at, “My father is almost desperate for me to get a man. I doubt he would prevent me from moving in with one, especially one with money and class.”

“You may just be right about that. Even if he did not accept your decision, knowing you there is nothing and no one that could stop you anyway.”

“Exactly,” I grinned. Despite the fact that my father was a traditional man, he, too, knew that I was my own woman and although he tried to convince me into becoming the ideal housewife, he knew that that was never going to happen. Just like he was a business man, I was a business woman, one who was not going to ignore my wishes and dreams in order to make someone other than myself proud. He was my father, sure, but that was not enough reason for me to change.

“And I suppose you will write down your journey as you're experiencing it?”

“Correct. There is something fairly exciting about the idea of writing a story without knowing where and what it's leading to. And a story written by a curious writer can only lead to be read by a curious leader, can it not? With that I think it is safe to say that this story is going to be a success.”

“ _If_ you figure it out that is,” Scott reminded me with a serious expression. That was how he was. Although I loved him like a brother, Scott was a rather dull character, that did not seek adventure in any way.

His words did not get to me, instead, I only looked at him in a know-it-all manner, “Come on, Scott, you know me better than that. I will not give up until I know who this man really is.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

HAPTER THREE

 

Monday rolled by quicker than I could have hoped. When I had returned the night of the party and told my father about everything, he was more than surprised. After I had told him, he sat down in the armchair silently, staring into the distance as he thought about the right thing to say. Although I had made it clear to him that my decision was final and that he was not able to convince me otherwise, he still looked as though he wanted to try. In the end, he told me that he was proud that I found a good-paying job that was in town, but overall, I think, he was mostly concerned about me moving in with a stranger, as Scott had predicted.

I took a cab at eight in the morning. My father hugged me one last time after we loaded my suitcases into the trunk of the car and he, again, looked as though he meant to say something, but he knew it was too late now. I then got into the cab and drove to the mansion. Now that it was bright and early, I could clearly see everything. The lights had given the driveway a magical touch, but even in daylight it looked like a fairytale castle. When the car stopped in front of the wide stairs, I got out and unloaded my suitcases and was immediately greeted by Victor.

“Good morning, Miss Winters, I hope you had a good drive here and are ready to work?” The blond greeted me with his usual friendly nature.

I smiled back at him, “Yes, I am.”

He then led me up the stairs, inside the mansion, “I will first show you to your room before inducting you into your job.”

With a simple nod I accepted his plan and then he led me upstairs into the first floor. My eyes were eagerly scanning what was ahead of me as I walked up the stairs. The stairs were in the middle of the mansion, which naturally led us to the middle of the first floor. The floor consisted of three walls of rooms in a horseshoe form, which was odd since the mansion had three floors, yet there was no staircase visible. Victor led me to the right and opened the first door to the left, which was right in the corner, crossing another door that was on the other wall.

I was immediately greeted by an utmost lovely room with bright, yet soft colors and expensive-looking furniture. There was a double bed by the middle of the wall of the door, opposite it was a cozy fireplace. Even the wardrobe to the left looked fancy, despite it only being the room of the staff. Victor and I walked inside, where I then placed my suitcases whilst I still admired the room.

“This is where you will be working,” stated Victor, pointing to his right. When I turned there, a huge desk came into view. It even had a shelve above it, with books that I assumed to be for work as well.

When Victor noticed me looking at the books he explained, “Those books include recipes and other essential information for your job.”

“This is really fancy,” was all I managed to say.

“It is indeed.”

I turned around to face Victor again, “From outside I saw that this building has three floors. How do you access the uppermost?”

The blond man chuckled lightly, “No need to worry about that one, Miss Winters. The second floor is only accessible to Mister Albion. He practically spends his entire day up there. No one else has ever been there.”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows along with my curiosity, “That means the ground floor is for parties, this one for the staff and the second one for Mister Albion?”

Victor laughed again, “Almost correct. But the ground floor is also for Mister Albion, not just for parties. It is, after all, where the kitchen is. The parties only take place once a month, it would be a bit of a waste to have an entire floor dedicated to an only monthly event.”

“I suppose so,” said I, not mentioning the fact that the entire thing was not making any sense whatsoever and to call any part of it a _waste of time_ was an unnecessary mislead that almost made this mansion sound as though it was the most average thing.

Before either of us could say anything, we got interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Miss Winters,” Mister Albion noted in a rather surprised manner, which made Victor and myself turn around to face the still handsome-looking man. He was, again, dressed in a suit and his hair, again, looked messy as it did on Saturday.

“Mister Albion,” I returned the greeting with a polite smile as I stayed put right where I was standing.

The dark-haired male then turned to the blond next to me, “Victor, a word.”

Without question Victor and the other stepped outside. Though I remained in the room, I still moved a bit closer to the door in order to hear what they were talking about.

“What is the meaning of this, Victor?” I could hear Mister Albion whisper.

“You know Linda moved away last month and planning the last party without her was nothing but a terrible mess. We need a replacement and Miss Winters was available,” Victor defended himself.

 _Great!_ , I thought. Apparently my recruitment had happened without anyone finding it important to inform Mister Albion about it.

“That might be true, but you can't just ask random party guests whether they want to work and move in here!”

Victor sighed but did not give up, “I'm sorry for not telling you about this, but it was urgent and the perfect opportunity, too. And I'd much rather ask a random party guest than a random person on the street, but maybe you see that differently.”

I could practically feel Mister Albion rolling his eyes at Victor's words. This was an awkward moment I had not expected to happen. Then again, Victor seemed quite confidence in his decision, wherefore I did not worry much about my job.

“Next time you might want to tell me about you hiring new people before I just so happen to walk by a new employee.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I'll talk to you later about this in detail, but I've got to go now. Just show her around and show her how to do her job,” Mister Albion order in defeat, before I could hear him walking downstairs.

It took a few seconds until Victor returned to my room. With a polite smile he apologized, “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

“That's alright. I did not cause any troubles did I?”

“No, no, don't worry. I just didn't get around to telling Mister Albion about having hired you, but all is fine.”

Though I wasn't sure how much I could believe his words, I smiled at him, “Okay.”

Victor then proceeded to explain how things worked around there, showed me around the entire property, except, of course, the second floor, which was to remain a mystery to us all, and introduced me to the rest of the staff. I wondered what could be such high worth that no one was allowed up there. What kind of a secret could a man possibly have to forbid everyone from going up there? With certainty I could exclude the option of him simply desiring his privacy, after all he threw parties to which everyone was allowed to go whatsoever.

As Victor had promised, the job itself was not complicated at all, which meant that I got paid for barely doing anything, even though I did not even desire the job. Instead, I was asked and that was just perfectly fine for me.

After I was shown everything he told me that there was nothing I had to do for the day. My actual job was going to start the following day and the rest of the current day was to be used to get used to everything. I was then left alone and returned to my room, where I unpacked my things. After putting my clothes in the wardrobe I moved on to arrange the rest of my items where they belonged. At last I put my typewriter on the big desk and sat down at it to write down my first impressions.

It was starting to get dark outside already when I was done typing and got up to look out of the window. The lights that were spread in the garden had already been turned on and, needless to say, it all looked like a dreamworld. There was a certain spark of peace the image gave off, calming me down, although I had not felt stressed. Yet looking at it calmed down my nerves and almost took away all the negatives of life, which probably sounded rather cliché a thing to say, but it was the truth. A knock on the door interrupted my peaceful moment as I turned around and called the visitor in.

“Morgana, dear, I came to tell you that dinner is ready now,” informed me Ruby, a nice lady in her forties that cooked here.

After a simple nod I followed Ruby downstairs just as Mister Albion walked into the mansion, apparently back from his trip to wherever he had been over the day. Upon seeing as he greeted us politely, “Ruby, Miss Winters,” before he walked to the hall cupboard, where he hang his coat as well as his hat.

“You are right on time for some delicious dinner,” greeted Ruby him back.

Mister Albion turned around before coming over to us with a delighted chuckle, “Wouldn't miss that for the world.”

“I hope so for you, I put a lot of effort into it after all,” Ruby lightly threatened him.

“That's why I'm here,” He agreed, much to her appreciation.

The three of us then proceeded into the dining room, which, as all the other rooms, was of gigantic size, filled with a beautiful old-looking round table for everyone to dine at together. With us, a few other members of the staff that had not yet sat down, entered the room and then sat down at the table.

After we all sat down, the three remaining cooks joined us with the food. They placed everything on the table before sitting down and then we started eating. When Victor had earlier told me that Mister Albion and the staff always dined together I had been rather surprised, though I knew I should expect everything. It was, however, only adding to Mister Albion's charm to do so. The round table was just another proof for the equality he had that so many others lacked to have. I sat directly opposite Mister Albion, which made it fairly easy for me to unobtrusively observe him during dinner.

“How was the meeting?” Asked Victor and everyone's attention immediately went to Mister Albion.

“Good, actually.”

Although Mister Albion had sounded honest, Victor didn't seem quite so sure, “It sounded serious enough on the phone yesterday?”

“No, no,” he denied with a shook of his head, “They simply sought my counsel for a Charles-related matter.”

I wasn't quite sure who Charles was, yet the matter caught everybody's interest, “How is young Charles?”

“Good,” replied Mister Mystery, “A lovely young boy.”

“Who is Charles?” I asked, apparently the only one to be at a loss.

Ruby turned to me and in her friendly manner enlightened me to the subject, “We are talking about Charles, Prince of Wales.”

“You know the Royal Family?” I immediately asked in surprise.

The now even more Mystery Man nodded, but not in a proud way, instead, he seemed to treat the entire matter as though it was the most average one of them all, “I do.”

“And they asked you for your counsel?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, in the same manner as before.

During our little dialog I could feel everyone eagerly following it without a word, “Then I take it this has not been the first time?”

There was a small somewhat ironic chuckle coming from Mister Albion, although I did not understand what was so funny, “It has not, no.”

“And?”

“And what?” He asked more serious now as I got the upper hand of the conversation.

I waited a bit to create a bit of tension and curiosity among all before explaining my question in further detail, “What was the discussed matter?”

“You ask quite a lot of questions,” he noticed instead of answering my question.

That game I could play, too. Instead of answering his question with a statement, I asked something in return, “How else can one obtain knowledge other than to make new experiences and to pose questions?”

“The Royal Family has considered putting Charles into school rather than giving him a private tutor.”

Everyone was surprised by that, I included, “They do? That is quite a big thing to consider. Should that not be decided by more... experienced people?”

I felt like everyone found my statement a bit rude, except Mister Albion, who simply laughed, “I can see where your concern is coming from, Miss Winters, but I can assure you that they got their reasons to ask me.”

“I see,” was my reply, still not sure what that was supposed to mean in all clearness. Simultaneously there was hardly any question that seemed to get a more sufficient answer out of him.

“When will the decision be made?” Victor then asked when he noticed I was not going to say something else.

Mister Albion looked at Victor whilst talking to him, “Probably sometime this week. They still got a few good months until school starts.”

“I hope they put him in school, that would be such a wonderful decision,” Ruby doted on the idea of the young royal adapting to a rather average lifestyle than go by the traditions of royals.

The others smiled and nodded in agreement as they started discussing the advantages of such situation. I, on the contrary, was looking at Mystery Man, who, as always and thus almost expectant, was unreadable. Knowing that he was unlikely to show his personal thoughts with the rest of us, I decided to ask him straight forward, “What did you tell them to do?”

An almost satisfied-looking grin formed on his face as he looked at me again, “I told them it's a good idea. He is supposed to rule the country one day, after all, and for that it is most important for him to know and understand the people he is to rule. What better way to do so than by living among them?”

Though I wasn't sure why he seemed so satisfied of my question, his reply certainly made me smile. Besides all the glamor that seemed to surround this man, he was most definitely wise beyond compare. There was something in his eyes that made me feel as though he found my digging somewhat exciting.

 

My worries of the job and life here and gone away over dinner, everyone was so very kind and lovely to be around. Additionally there was a homely atmosphere, which made everything even more so peaceful. Adaption was easier than I had thought and from what I took from my dinner conversation, Mister Albion did not seem to not let anyone get close to him, which would definitely be of help for my investigations.

When everyone was done eating, I followed Mister Albion upstairs. Not to spy on him in any way, however, we had almost the same path. Almost ironically, he went to the door in the right corner, the diagonally opposite mine.

“Is that what leads to the second floor?” I asked right in the moment he put his hand on the door handle.

Hearing my voice made him turn around and smile at me as I walked up right next to me, now standing in front of my door, “Indeed it is.”

“I heard no one's allowed to go up there except for you?” I stated in a question, curious to what he was about to say.

“You are quite the curious woman, Miss Winters,” he remarked with a smirk, “What you heard is absolutely true.”

There was a moment of us just staring at another, which seemed to be a sort of habit of ours. And that with a man I have had about three conversations with.

“You seem eager to have a look inside,” Mister Albion continued.

My eyes did not move away from his as I tried to detect what he was planning on doing.

His hand then pressed down the door handle and gently pushed the door open for me to have a peak inside. I bend down a bit to have a proper look inside. The room was dark, but the hallway light was enough for me to spot a spiral staircase that led up to the upper floor.

As I turned back to the older man he smiled at me, “Now you have seen the stairs.”

I thought about some remark to make on his little gag, the dark-haired man, however, was faster and ended our conversation by saying, “Goodnight, Miss Winters.”

He didn't move from the spot, obviously waiting for me to go into my room first. With a polite, even though fake, smile I returned his gesture of saying goodbye, “Mister Albion,” ere I opened the door to my room and disappearing into it. I could hear another door close and then somehow walking up stairs, which meant he was now on his floor. Now alone in my room and without a further task for the day, I sat back at my desk to continue my entry for today by reporting about our dinner conversation as well as our small conversation just now. To my disappointed this day did not help me further at all, instead it only brought up more questions about this man. Nevertheless, the little regression of the day only strengthened my curiosity and ambition to solve the puzzle of this man.

 


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

 

Without having thought so before, sleeping in the big bed gave me the best sleep I had ever had, despite the fact that I had a nice bed at home, too. Fully awake I got up and got dressed. This was going to be my time to actually live in the house all twenty-four hours of the day, which might not seem like much, however, it meant I could take observations concerning his daily routine from now on. In a way, I then realized as I thought more about it, this whole thing made me sound somewhat obsessed with this man, something I clearly did not want to happen at all. It was but a mere fascination I had for the secrecy of this man, yet I felt like I had to watch out not to get too personally involved in the investigation.

It then struck me that I had not yet seen the garden by sunlight, wherefore I went over to the window to open it and have a look outside. Two figures where recognizable in the distance and looked like they were discussing a part of the garden. For some strange reason I managed to recognize them to be Ricky, a man who took care of the garden, and, of course, Mister Mysterious. Since I had not yet seen the garden, I decided to have a closer look at it now.

It was absolutely quiet in the hallway, most likely due to everyone having already started to work. Not long after, I found my way to the garden. With astonishment I observed the beautiful design of the garden. There was a small back porch made of stone and surrounded by a handrail of the same material, decorated with the most colorful roses I had ever seen. I walked down the wide stairs to enter the garden, the grass a shade of green that looked more healthy than I thought possible. I walked to one of the trees, high enough to touch the clouds and looking completely untouched by any human-being.

My fascination for the old tree made me shut out the world around me completely, thus not noticing someone approaching me.

“Lovely tree, is it not?” The deep voice ripped me out of my thoughts.

I turned to face the mystery man in surprise, then put on a smile as I calmed down, “Indeed. It's generally a beautiful garden.”

“It is,” he agreed, then took his eyes off me and looked at the tree instead.

Together we watched at the peaceful scene, however, there was one thing that disturbed me about the garden, only that I hadn't thought it to be obvious enough for him to notice, “Is there something on your mind, Miss Winters?”

I had been lost in thought watching the tree that I had not even notice him looking at me. Coming back to my senses, I turned to face him again, “Yes, yes. It's just... everything is so neat and perfect in the garden, everything so full of life and fitting together. Yet back there you have three trees next to another that are all of different kind.”

He followed my gaze before returning to me, “Is that so bad?”

My entire concentration dedicated to the three trees that were at the distant end of the garden, it took me time to answer. Before I was able to do so, I approached the trees that were yet so far, to get a closer look at them. Silently, Mister Mysterious followed me to my destination, patiently waiting for my response. Did he not have anywhere to be?

We then reached the trees. The two trees up front were normal-sized, behind them, however, was the most majestic tree I had ever seen, which over-whelmed me quite a bit. I was also a little lost and helpless, trees never having been my strong point. Although I could recognize a few, out of those three I was only able to name one. Of course he noticed that too, and took over for me.

Turning to the tree on the left he started, “A birch tree, symbolizing new beginnings as well as cleansing of the past and vision quests. Next to it, an oak tree, symbolizing courage and power, seeing as it is the most powerful of all trees and thus it also stands through all things. And finally, the tree behind them, a willow tree, symbolizing fulfilling wishes of the heart and learning from the past, inner visions and dreams.”

I was still over-whelmed and, as an additional emotion, rather surprised by his choice of explanation. The satisfied smirk on his face only showed that he was quite proud of himself.

“I take it you did not choose to have these trees in your garden by coincidence then?”

“Isn't it nice to have a bit of meaning in what we own? After all, I believe our homes to, in certain ways, represent ourselves.”

As so often before, his words got me utterly lost. The symbols of those trees were sometimes logical to be a sort of representation, yet some of those struck me as rather odd.

“The most powerful of all trees, wasn't it?” I repeated, looking at the oak tree and then looking back at Mister Mysterious, “Is that who you are, too?”

His first response was a light-hearted giggle, although I had not meant to be funny at all, and still now my face was utterly serious, “That would make me sound a little bit arrogant, would it not? But to be fair, I have been through some hard times that would almost make it a legitimate association.”

“And the learning from the past, inner vision and dreams?”

His face, although he seemed to try to hide it, suddenly turned a whole lot sadder, “I hope that I have learned from all three of those.”

“And the new beginnings?”

“Well,” he started, his face looking more optimistic again, which for some reason soothed me, “Those are to always be hoped for, are they not? What is more lovely than a fresh start after dark times?”

No matter how hard I tried, I did not get smart out of his words, yet I did not seem to mind that either. He spoke like he watched the world burn, as though he had been in the midst of a terrible war, seen ends and beginnings and experienced more than anyone else. Despite all that he said and gave away, he was not that old, although older than me. Sometimes, for a split second, he did look like he had been around for a longer time than his outward appearance made believe. Simultaneously, there was also so often a spark in his eyes that reminded me of a lovely and vivid child, excited to see the world and all it had to offer. Quite frankly that combination was what made him so mysterious and at the same time so loveable and charming like no man before him.

“I suppose so. According to the things you say, you must have seen the world.”

He replied with a light chuckle, one that most would use after receiving a flattering compliment, “Not all of it, but I have seen it.”

“You're a strange man,” I stated, which certainly caught his interest, his eyes practically begging for an explanation, “I have never met a man, who has grown trees in his garden that represent him.”

“A home alone is mostly enough representation, but there cannot be too much of personal touch, can there?”

A smile crossed my lips, his statement amusing me, “For a man of such mystery, you seem to embrace representation quite a lot.”

“Especially because of that. The less there would be representing me here, the more absurd stories would develop about me. That isn't exactly my greatest wish.”

“Then maybe you should tell people a bit more about yourself?”

“I rather not,” he insisted, “there is a difference between wanting to keep myself as much a secret as possible and being alright with wild rumors spreading around town.”

In a way, of course, he had a point with what he said. Yet it did not help me any further in my investigations, “I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you then: Most people, myself included, don't quite know about the symbolism of trees, which makes your effort rather useless, does it not?”

My words seem to have taken an effect on him, for he suddenly fell into a speechless silence, which made me almost proud of myself. To have been able to shut up the man no one seemed to really know was an achievement most likely no one has made yet.

“Then maybe it would be best to put little info cards in front of them?”

I laughed. Although I had only known him for a couple of days thus far, one of the things about him that was already known to me was that he usually seemed like the perfect gentleman, all serious, wealthy, modern and mysterious. Simultaneously, there was a side to him that kept reminding me of a child, a brain filled with silly ideas and plans. He was a bit of a lonely child, too, because of his secrecy. After all, without anyone quite knowing him, he did not have many friends. Surely, he seemed to get along quite well with his staff, and all the people appearing at his parties. But those were no real friendships. They did not know him, like real friends did. And that very child inside of him sought a friend with whom he would be able to be completely himself, no secrecy or seriousness present. And that was rather flattering, to be able to experience that very side of him.

“I am sure that those would be a great hit with everyone!” I joined the joking manner.

“And since you are the party planner, your opinion should be of most value,” he winked with those smiling blue eyes of his, “Yet, should people not have to earn additional knowledge about me? Like you, they must see the trees and come to realize that there is a reason for them to be there. If they can see that, they may hear about their symbolism.”

“They would probably just think of you not to have any idea for outdoor design.”

He shrugged, “It certainly is no lie, if it were not so, I would not need a gardener.”

“Taking your staff in consideration, that would lead me to the conclusion that you can neither plan parties, nor cook, nor clean either. Is that all true?”

His laugh showed me that my words were not meaningless to him, but that he rather, for whatever odd reason, seemed to enjoy my presence, which was more than alright for me. He was certainly the first man not to tell me to _shut up and be a lady_.

“I can, yet there is more to life than spending a fair amount of time on those dull activities. Besides, this way other people get paid to do that for me, which means everybody only profits out of it, which seems like a good thing to me.”

“You say that you can, but where is your proof?”

“Well,” he started, now looking serious, but managing to somehow keep his laughing eyes, “I used to be a servant myself, actually. I've spent a couple of years doing so.”

I automatically raised my brows in disbelief, “You?”

My reaction made him laugh, “Indeed.”

“That's hard to imagine.”

“I didn't do the best job, I must admit.”

“That I can rather imagine.”

He then became a bit more serious, which was mostly just his big interest making him pay even more attention than usual, “What about your professional history, Miss Winters?”

“Please,” I began, almost a bit rude, “Ever since the war ended there is hardly any room left for us women anymore, since the men are available for the jobs again.”

“You don't seem like the person that would get bothered by that.”

“I was still a child when the war ended and once I finished school there was no university to accept me, all the places having been taking by men. And I can't just snap my finger to get what I want. It's rough times for us women, but I am not going to give up.”

“And what is it, that you aspire to be? I doubt your biggest wish is to plan an only monthly party,” Mister Mysterious asked and I could tell he was honestly interested. The question caught me a bit by surprise, as most things he said did, mostly due to the fact that no one had ever asked me that question before, or if they had, only in hope of me saying that I want to be a mother and wife.

Once I finally managed to get used to the situation I replied, “I've always dreamed of being a writer.”

“I am sure you will manage that without further education. That is, as long as your stories are worth reading?”

“Oh, I don't know,” I replied, sounding more intimidated than I liked, “It's rather hard to be one's own judge.”

He nodded in agreement, “Very true. The best piece of advice for you, would be to ask someone to do the job for you.”

“Are you suggesting anything with that, Mister Albion?”

“Only that I am a great friend of books. Stories are somewhat _magical_ , wouldn't you agree? And who doesn't like a little bit of magic in their life?”

“I take it you are not the kind of man to call something a wild story then.”

The dark-haired male shook his head, “The wilder the better. Whenever life gets dull, a story is the best way to bring back the spirit of life. It's definitely nice to experience a number of things, yet sometimes it is nice to lean back and enjoy a good read rather than going on an adventure oneself.”

“You seem like quite the book enthusiast. I'd rather not spoil that with my stories.”

He was perfectly serious, not in a way to simply cheer me up or in fear of upsetting me, but in actual seriousness, he replied, “Actually, it would be the greatest honor to be the first to read a story rather than being among many other readers. Besides that, I am convinced that your stories could impossibly be bad. Something tells me that your stories are of great quality and certainly more than just a good read.”

“You haven't read them yet.”

“I've come to learn to trust my instincts. And they tell me your stories are more than you think they are.”

That automatically made me smile, “I hope your instincts are right then.”


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

 

Mister Albion certainly was a strange character. Whenever I talked to him he said a lot and he did talk about himself as well. At least he always gave me the feeling that he did. But looking back I always had to come to realize that I did not get a lot smarter out of him after each conversation. Naturally I did learn a bit about him, or rather his character, but he never made clear statements about his past. No matter how clear I posed my questions, his answers were always as much a mystery as he was. No wonder no one was able to figure him out. Nonetheless, despite his greatest efforts to keep his past and name a secret, his sweet character was something no one could deny. He was a serious person and someone everyone took seriously, yet there was this light-hearted side that made him so enjoyable to talk to. He seemed and talked like he had seen the world grow, but then he also sounded like the world was this perfect happy place. There is nothing that actually helped me further in this investigation. Surely, living and working at Mister Albion's mansion was my way of getting close to him and to find out who he was character wise, yet one would probably have to wait for him to come out with the truth on his own. And that was when I started wondering more about _why_ he kept himself such a secret, rather than what his secret actually was. There had been moments in which I had feared that he had been some kind of criminal that had been running from the law and started a new life with a new identity. But then I would look at him again and realize that that was absolute nonsense. Well, one should never judge anyone like that, but he was not the kind of person to commit a crime. He seemed like the fairest and most just person, who would never hurt a fly. That, and I was aware of that all along, was nonsense, too, since everyone could _seem_ kind and then turn out to be the exact opposite.

“You seem awfully quiet, lost in thought today, Miss Winters,” he suddenly remarked to break the silence, when the two of us were in the garden together. I still didn't quite know why, but for some odd reason he found it very important for me to help him put up holiday lights on the three symbolical trees in the garden. Why he found it necessary to do so at the end of spring I didn't know either.

I climbed down the ladder and sent him a soft smile to reassure him my well-being, “Tonight will be the first party that I have planned. I might just be a bit nervous. There are, after all, a number of expectations for your famous parties.”

With his usual, soft chuckle he replied, “So far you have thought about everything, I think it is safe to say that you don't need to worry.”

“I think I can first put my mind to rest once the party's over.”

“Take your time,” Mister Mysterious smiled, “Just... don't let that stop you from enjoying the party.”

I nodded quickly to reassure him that I would, “How could I not?”

His smile showed me that my answer satisfied him and with that the two of us returned inside. It was almost time for the first people to arrive and the house looked absolutely stunning. That, I realize, might give the wrong impressions, for the house always looked the most beautiful, however, the food was now being put out onto the tables and this month's band had already settled in and now started to play too. And then the guest's arrived, making the house even more magical than it always already was.

 

“Everyone seems to enjoy the party. Do you enjoy the party?” Mister Albion asked once he got back downstairs. When the first guest's had arrived, he had went upstairs to do whatever it was he did up there all the time. Although I did talk to him a lot, he spent most of his time either away or on the second floor. In fact, the only times he was seen on his own property was for the meals, for short moments at his parties and occasionally for no specific reason other than to enjoy his garden or so.

I turned around to face the well-suited man and smiled back at him, “I do, actually. I must admit, I've done a great job.”

“ _Fantastic_ job,” he corrected me confidently before changing the subject, “What kind of food have you chosen for tonight?”

“Well,” I began, turning to the wall at which the long food table stood and symbolizing him to follow me, which he did, “We've got a variety of light snacks as well as salads.”

He looked at the food for a while before the two of us grabbed each a plate and put some food on it before going into the dining hall, in which a few people had already found themselves in to eat. There were still two free seats next to another on which we settled down.

“It tastes really good,” he remarked after a few bites.

“Although that is very true, you shouldn't tell me that.”

“Well then, compliments to the chef,” Mister Albion corrected himself as though he was a guest himself.

For some strange reason, every conversation with Mister Albion unleashed in me a feeling of familiarity, where nothing was in my way of being myself, without feeling judged. It wasn't as though he seemed like the kind of person not to judge anyone at all, yet he seemed to want everyone to be their true self instead of pretending to be someone simply in order to be accepted by society.

“This is an absolutely lovely table,” I remarked without further context.

Mister Albion smiled at me warmly, “It is indeed. Although Jackie does complain a lot about the difficulties of cleaning it, so I suppose the round shape does not do anything more than looking good.”

“That is completely comprehensible. I've noticed you've got a lot of antiques in your house. Must have cost you a fortune.”

“I do like to collect things from the places I go. Objects are the best memories.”

I raised my brows in slight surprise, “Is that so? Don't people usually like to take photographs instead?”

There was a small smirk forming on his face, though the reason why was not revealed to me, “That might be so. But why take a photograph instead of taking an object with you that you can actually touch? It simply lasts longer and has a much stronger effect, it is easier to connect to an object you can view from every angle you like and that you can touch and are able to feel every single vault, corner and crack. A photograph, on the other hand, can only offer you a glimpse of how you first saw it, how its original state was. Therefore it makes sense to take photographs of people and keep inanimate objects.”

“I understand your reasons, however, most of us do not have access to those antiques.”

“That, Miss Winter, is where our differences lie.”

My face was probably expressing enough of my confusion, yet I still spoke, “I don't think I can follow.”

“Well, I... got them first-hand, you could say. To me, these things aren't antiques, they are what they are, objects from the places I've been to. No one there has ever seen them as valuable, they were a mere part of life.”

“So how come you got the honor of keeping them?”

A playful grin crossed his face, “Charm,” he simply offered, which made me laugh.

 

After we were done eating, the two of us left the filled dining hall again to return to the enormous hallway, where most of the guests had assembled to listen to the music, dance to it, or just stand there and talk with others. The variety of guests fascinated me as it had a month before. The people at the party where not only of all kinds of ages, ranging from kids to seniors, and difference classes, but also of completely different styles and characters. Maybe that was the reason for the charm of these parties, their magical way of getting together all those people that would usually ignore another without even the thought of talking to them. And the way wasn't forced either, they simply were given the chance to talk and so they did, everyone looking happy in the peaceful atmosphere. It was almost like another world, where war and other problems were non-existent, like a fairy-tale come true.

My thoughts of the magical peace got interrupted by the crowd that kept moving and accidentally pushing me against Mister Albion.

“Sorry,” I said, quickly taking a step back again.

Fortunately, he looked just as helpless in the crowd as I did, which made me feel much better.

“So,” I started to get his attention, continuing once I got it, which wasn't hard seeing as there was little space between us, “Are you just going to stand there all night or ask me to dance?”

He looked at me rather startled, a reaction that almost made me laugh out loud, due to it being the first time I saw him look insecure, “I erm, I'm not much of a dancer.”

“Really? And here I thought you were capable of anything,” I admitted in a joking manner, although I was actually quite serious with my statement.

With his cute giggle he replied, “Dancing is beyond my powers.”

“That is quite the surprise, coming from a man throwing parties where people dance a lot.”

“Yes, but it is not I that dances, it's the guests.”

I rolled my eyes ere taking his left hand to place it on my back before taking his right and with mine and placing my own left hand on his arm.

“What are you-”

“It's not that hard,” I interrupted him, looking back into those blue eyes of his after I had settled us into the right position.

He still did not seem convinced of my actions, wherefore I brought up the best argument I could come up with, “As the party planner I think it is of absolute importance for the host to mix with the other guests. Therefore, the host must do as the other guests do, which includes dancing.”

“Okay,” was his reply, although he still looked like a frightened child.

I brought a bit of distance between us in order for the both of us to look down so he could see what to do with his feet. We moved slowly to the music in order for him to remember what to do and get more confident. While he was completely focused on our feet, I simply took the time to watch him learn the moves. It honestly was the first time I had ever seen him look so insecure. A man whose entire life was a big mystery obviously had to be confident in order to keep himself secret and he clearly seemed to have established a lifestyle that fit him and that he had been leaving for quite a while, which meant that it was only obvious for a new challenge to make him feel insecure like that. Nonetheless, he did improve quickly, wherefore I slowly closed the distance between us to dance normally without much of a distance.

“You're not doing bad at all,” I remarked with a confident smile.

Mister Albion put on a small smile once our eyes met, “Not bad isn't good.”

“It's only been a couple of minutes. If we continue this throughout the night you might be able to master the profession of dancing.”

“I don't think I'd last that long,” he chuckled.

“Then it's a good thing there will be many more parties to come.”

“Does that mean I'll have to pay you more for becoming my private dance teacher?”

The idea actually made me giggle, “I'm certainly not a dance teacher. This is more part of being a party planner. My goal is, after all, to plan the most wonderful parties and that can only happen when the host does not make a fool of himself on the dance floor.”

“Wow, that is almost rude,” he meant teasingly.

“What can I say, I'm an honest woman,” I shrugged in return.

“Can I trust on that?”

“Most definitely.”

“Then will you honestly answer me one very serious question?” He asked seriously.

I nodded, a bit intrigued by the unknown question that was to follow. He leaned in closer, bringing his lips close to my ear and then whispered, in a dead serious tone, “Does this bow tie suit me?”

He slowly tilted his head back again to hear my reply, which, at first, was only a chuckle.

Although he certainly was being funny, he gave his best to be as serious as possible, and his face remained so as he was still waiting for my answer, “That's actually almost impossible to answer, I've never seen you with anything else!”

“Does that imply anything?”

I was about to playfully hit him, but held back, not wanting to give him what he wanted so easily, “Only that you always wear a bow tie.”

“Oh,” was Mister Albion's simple reaction, which sounded almost disappointed.

“What?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

The question rather surprised me. The man in front of me looked as though he hadn't noticed his outfit before, like he never spent a thought on it, “It's your choice.”

“Yes, but is it weird?”

I looked at him a little confused, not sure what he wanted me to say.

“Is it weird to always wear roughly the same outfit?”

“Isn't that what most men do?” I asked in return before shrugging, “It suits you.”

“That doesn't quite sound like a compliment.”

Mister Albion's sudden interest in what other people thought certainly confused me more than anything, but I was determined to use this in order to get to know him better, “What I meant was, it suits your secrecy. Especially given the contrast between your expensive-looking suit and that messy hair of yours.”

“Do you have a problem with my hair?”

“Not in the slightest. I think it looks fantastic.”

He smiled, “Thanks.”

“You are a complete mystery, Mister Albion.”

For a couple of seconds he just stared into my eyes, as if he tried to read my mind, “Is that why you came here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you come here in order to find out who I am?”

The change of atmosphere between us confused me even more, yet adapting to the seriousness wasn't a challenge, “Why do you ask?”

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

“Let me give you a good advice, Miss Winters,” he paused, “Give it up.”

“I'm not someone who gives up like that.”

Suddenly Mister Albion stopped dancing and I realized the song had just stopped. As the next song began, he took my hand to move it to his lips and place a soft kiss on it, “It's just a waste of time,” he concluded before letting go of my hand and walking upstairs, leaving me in the middle of the crowd.

 


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

 

Despite Mister Albion's declaration to me not to dig any deeper in his case, he did not make any efforts ever since that party to keep me from continuing my investigation either. It was an odd thought that crossed my mind, a couple of weeks later, as I wrote down my daily summary for the day – It was almost as though he wanted me there. However, as soon as the thought had crossed my mind, I pushed it away again. It was a ridiculous idea, after all there was no reason for him to do so. Surely I had been there for over two months now, but he had no real bond to me. I was just a part of his staff, so why did he let me stay even though he knew my true motives? I sighed. There was no way the answer to my questions was going to come to me merely from wanting them to, wherefore I finished my report, placed it in the drawer and went to bed.

 

It was the midst of summer now, the sky cloudless and the air nicely warm. Now that it was warm all day long, I often spotted Mister Mysterious sitting under his three symbolic trees and read.

“Is it good?”

He looked up a bit startled. Apparently he hadn't heard me approaching, “Yes,” he then replied with a smile and nodded to the spot next to him.

After I sat down next to him, I grabbed the book from him to see what he was reading. _Frankenstein_. I had read that once, a couple of years ago. It was a nice novel, although there wasn't much story to it, “It certainly is.”

He smiled softly, “It's my favorite book.”

I gasped in exaggerated shock, “Did you just tell me something about yourself?”

He laughed, as he always did when I outsmarted him, “Maybe I have.”

“So I take it you've read it before?”

“A couple of times.”

“Must be special to you then.”

He nodded, “It is.”

I narrowed my eyes to slits, as I always did when I tried to figure him out, “A book about a man creating someone, who he then abandoned, thus causing the creator to turn against him and everyone else? I'm not quite sure what to do with that information.”

Although he chucked lightly, it was a rather sad chuckle, like the content of the story truly meant something to him, which only confused me once more.

“I had a friend once,” he began, which definitely surprised me, to say the least. It was certainly the first time he told me a story about his past, maybe the first time he told anyone a story about his past, “And when she needed me most, I wasn't there for her.”

He turned his face away from me, staring at the mansion that was in the distance in front of us, “I was the one friend that knew what she went through, but everyone told me to let her go. They told me that I had to be there for everyone else, that she was the bad one. In the end, it was my fault she turned _bad_ ,” he said the word with hesitation, like he didn't find it to be the right word.

I stayed silent throughout his story, watching him patiently as he spoke, “I know now that I made a mistake. But it's a bit too late for that now.”

“I'm sure you've prevented something much worse from happening by letting her go,” I tried calming him down with a soft smile.

He turned his face to me again, staring my eyes like so often before he spoke, “No, I... I was being naïve and gave her up too early. I should have tried and listened to myself rather than others.”

Without thinking, I gently lay my arm around him, resting my hand on his back. Fortunately, he didn't seem to mind, “We've all done things we wish we could do differently. Whether or not that would change anything, we'll never know. It happened. It's in the past. To know what we did wrong is all we can do right about our mistakes.”

“You're a really smart woman, Miss Winters,” he stated honestly.

“Did it really take you that long to notice?” I teased with a grin.

He laughed, “I'm glad I have my charm or otherwise you would just run off and get a better job.”

“Who says this isn't a good job I like?”

“Oh it is, I'm sure, I'm just saying that with your intelligence you could easily get a job that meet your requirements more than simple party planning.”

“First of all, Mister Gentleman, it is not simple party planning,it requires a lot of effort and organization skills. And secondly, I don't have the balls to do something more demanding.”

His eyes opened widely in shock before he started laughing out loud.

 

Planning parties was actually quite fun. I really enjoyed picking out the themes, meals and bands and decorate the house a bit. After each party I drew sketches for the next party, designing how everything would look like and making lists for what to get for that. With that being said, I spent a big amount of time walking through the ground floor to decide on what theme to have next.

Sometimes, when I stood there examining the rooms or walls to think about what to do with them for the party, he would walk by the room and I would notice him stopping for a few seconds, watching me work. Maybe it was only my imagination, my wish for him to actually care about my existence. Maybe I was reading too much into it and he only stopped to make sure I didn't break anything. Either way, he never corrected me or told me to do something differently. The freedom in the mansion was incredible, even though I hadn't even asked for it.

The nice thing about summer was the fact that the party was not only in the mansion, but also in the garden. Since the parties went on until midnight when it was dark, I decorated the garden with colorful lights and picnic tables for everyone to eat outside.

 

“The garden looks wonderful,” Mister Albion noticed the night before the party, when I tried out the lights to make sure everything would work.

I turned to smile at him, “That was my plan.”

“And a few months ago you found it strange of me to put up lights in my trees.”

“Unlike you, I plan for the lights to be there for people to see something in the dark, you on the other hand, only hung them there for decoration.”

“It might come as a surprise to you, Miss Winters, but I don't decorate my house for others.”

“Really?”

He nodded, “Really.”

“Well, but I do.”

“Either way, you're doing a great job,” was how he ended our conversation before making his way back inside.

 

The night of the third party I planned arrived and once I was all dressed and ready for it, a lot of people had already assembled in the garden, eating, laughing and dancing as usual. They all seemed to enjoy the atmosphere in the garden, especially the younger guests that could freely run around on the big property.

“I've never seen the garden more lively than tonight.”

I had been concentrating so much on the children running around the trees and tables that I got all startled when the deep voice rung in my ears. I turned around and apparently looked even more shocked than I thought, for Mister Albion obviously failed at hiding an amused grin, “I didn't mean to startle you.”

“No , I er, I was just lost in thought.”

“I noticed that.”

Slowly my brain returned to normal, placing a smile on my face, “It's magical, isn't it? How everyone and everything seems so peaceful and careless, like all the problems in the world have suddenly disappeare, like there were no boundaries, no rules holding us back.”

I looked around the garden as I spoke, turning back to Mister Mysterious when I was done. He looked at me as though I had just read the deepest, most beautiful poem, which flattered me without doubt.

“And now,” I continued, “You must ask me for a dance.”

“Do I?” He asked in surprise.

I nodded, “Most definitely. A beautiful night such as tonight mustn't be wasted by merely standing around, watching other people enjoy their life.”

“Isn't it a bit of a imposition to have the second dance lesson take place on such uneven ground as grass?”

“Oh please, I'm the one wearing heels, so don't even think about complaining about the difficulties from the natural ground.”

My answer was enough to shut him up and convince him that he was not able to escape me now. Although he claimed not to have any dancing experience, and I did realize that he was telling the truth, he certainly was a fast learner. It was a pleasure dancing with him, not that it was a surprise to me. There was an indescribable feeling of home I got from it, a feeling that was simply _right_. There was certainly something easy about it, about him. For a moment I imagined what it would be like living in a world full of people like him. It would be a nice world, I was sure of that. It was one of the many mysteries concerning him, the reason why it felt as though he wanted my presence as much as I his. Maybe it wasn't more than the pure desire of mine to have him feel that way, yet he was there with me, whilst he could talk to all the people at his party that he had never interacted with before. So why me? Me, the person he was able to have conversation with every single day, if he pleased.

That very thought, although rather abruptly, made me stop the dance. I was glad there were so many people there, because I really did not want to cause a scene. Mister Albion looked quite surprised by the unexpected halt coming from my side.

With an apologetic look I excused myself, “I'm feeling a bit sick. It would probably be better for me to lie down.”

“Of course. Have a good rest,” he nodded with his usual appreciation and I sent him one last smile before going inside into my room.

 

The next day I mostly stayed inside my room. I needed time to think. Sitting at my desk and trying to figure out the next theme, I placed my head inside my hands as I suffered from a headache. There wasn't much reason for my worries, but the entire investigation kept making regresses instead of making any progress and figuring anything out. More and more questions established. Maybe Mister Albion was right when he had told me not to dig any deeper. Just what was his story? He was well aware of my inability to figure him out and so was I, but he was a person as much as I was. It couldn't be too difficult to figure _something_ out.

Over the course of the day I tried avoiding everyone as much as possible. My mind was too full of confusion as to make proper conversation, yet simultaneously I did attend each meal in order to prevent anyone from noticing the current state I was in.

 

A knock on the door interrupted me from desperate train of thoughts and immediately made me turn towards it. I immediately recognized the tall figure, standing in the door frame with a questioning look on his face, whether or not he was allowed to enter. With a nod I symbolized him to step inside, and he did, closing the door behind him.

“I was just wanting to make sure you were alright?”

I nodded lightly, “I'm fine, thank you.”

“If there is anything you are unhappy with or anything you need, feel free to say so,” Mister Albion offered.

“Thanks, I will,” was what I said before getting up. Looking up at him so much only intensified my headache.

Without a word he walked over to me, grabbing something out of his pocket and placing it on the desk next to me. My eyes wandered to it. A bracelet. _My_ bracelet! My eyes jumped back to him in both confusion and surprise, but before I could ask anything he started explaining, “I was walking through the garden just now when I found it. I remembered to have seen you always wearing it.”

A thankful smile crossed my face as I put it on. Lost in my world of thoughts I hadn't even noticed it missing. Looking down at my wrists I, for whatever reason, told him about its origin, “It was my mother's. She taught me to be myself instead of trying to fit into some sort of role scheme and never to let anyone tell me what to do. She passed away a few years ago.”

“She sounds special.”

“She was,” I looked back at him with a small smile, “Thanks for bringing it back, it really means a lot to me.”

My words made him smile, “No reason to thank me. But I'm glad I was of help.”

A grin crossed my face, “Does that make me Cinderella?”

“If you were, I would end up being Prince Charming. I'm not sure if I match the role,” he replied with his light-hearted chuckle.

“Really? How so?”

“You see,” he started, as though he was about to make a highly intellectual declaration, “I am not royal. Sorry to disappoint you.”

I rolled my eyes at his silly argument, “That is hardly an excuse. You can do better than that I believe.”

He seemed to think about that for a while until he came to a conclusion, “If that doesn't matter, I must be Prince Charming after all.”

A content smile formed on my lips, “That's more like it.”

Standing there so close to him with no one else around and in my rather desperate state of wanting to figure him out, there was one thing that could answer me one of my many questions. The question about his attitude towards me. Without another thought that might have kept me from my following action, I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer and did so at a speed too fast for him to even realize what was happening until our lips met. I wish I could say my only reason for doing so was to know whether he had any feelings for me, but a probably more significant reason was my personal desire to do so. That, as one might expect, was a rather fatal problem, for I was lost in the kiss too much to think about how he was reacting. He did, however, at first step back in slight surprise, until realizing what was going on and gently placing his hands on my back, once he finally kissed me back. Who it came from, I didn't know, but the kiss soon deepened, becoming more passionate with every movement of our lips. My heart was beating fast as the heat of his body warmed me, making everything seem more real than it did at first. I moved my hands up through that messy hair of his and couldn't help but press my body closer to his than it was before. Both of us started breathing heavier. My hands moved from his hair to his chest, sweeping his suit off of him before getting rid of his bow tie. In the heat of the moment adrenaline just shot through my body, enabling me to unbutton his shirt in a matter of seconds. We both just sort of kicked our shoes off next to us as he gently removed my dress, letting it fall down on the ground without breaking apart even once. Skillfully we moved to my bed, on which he carefully lowered me and himself slowly, in order not to hurt me.

 


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

When I woke up the next morning, the spot next to me in bed was empty. For a moment I thought last night to have been but a dream, a mere fantasy, until I came to realize that it was, in fact, reality. There certainly was a feeling of joy overcoming me from the memory of last night. The fact that he had left was a bit of a disappointment, but at least I now knew the reason he had kept me around and talked to me, despite being aware of my investigation.

There was no point in staying in bed, wherefore I got up and got dressed. Just as I opened my door, ready to leave it, a certain someone was walking by.

“Hey,” I softly greeted him.

He turned to me in a bit of surprise, apparently he had been too lost in thought to notice me. But it wasn't just his surprise that caught my attention, he generally seemed a bit unwell.

“Is everything alright?”

There was insecurity visible on his face again, slight imitation, for whatever reason.

“Yeah” he nodded, his voice smaller and more fragile than I had ever heard it before.

I smiled at him, but he corrected himself then, “Actually, no- not really. Can we talk?”

I wasn't sure what his serious tone was indicating, but I took a step back to clear the path to my room, “Sure.”

He slowly went inside without looking at me at all. There was something weird going on, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to know. After he stepped inside, I closed the door and remained at it, waiting for him to talk.

“Last night,” he began after a few seconds, finally looking me in the eyes, “I- I lost control over myself.”

I knitted my brows, confused and slightly hurt, “Wh-what do you mean?”

“This is confusing and certainly not pleasant, but... it was simply a mistake. I'm not blind, I know you are here mainly to find out who I really am and I know my warning of not going any further in your investigation did not have any effect on you, especially because you don't understand what I mean. However, believe me, you don't want to know any more than you do now and it's only for your best not to get close to me.”

There was this mixture of honesty and innocence in his eyes, which easily convinced me that he was serious, yet that did not stop me from being rather offended by his words, “Are you threatening me?”

“I wouldn't think of harming you. I won't be able to convince you to stop from trying, so all I'm doing is asking you, for your own sake, to stop. I let you stay here because we need someone to do the job and that is your very reason for being here, not for anything or anyone else. As you can tell, there is no one living here beside me and the staff, which is how things have been, are and will be. I'm a single man, and that's who I'll always be.”

I couldn't make sense of his words, not only due to the confusion he gave me everytime he spoke, but also due to his ridiculous statement.

“That is absolutely ridiculous!” I exclaimed almost bitterly.

“I'm sorry.”

Ignoring his apology, I continued, “You're not making any sense! What is so terrible for you to open up to someone? You're not alone, unless you make yourself alone. If you want to change your loneliness than stop holding yourself back just because you want to keep your true identity to yourself! That is beyond ridiculous, even childish!”

“I don't need your approval for decisions I have made a long time ago concerning myself. That is why I advice you to stop. I have made my choices.”

“And you think I'll just accept that?”

“As I said, it is my life.”

I clenched my fists, angry about his stubbornness, “And you don't think I've got a right to know why you're pushing me away?”

“It is as I said, the best for you.”

“Don't talk like you know me, just because I'm not hiding behind a shell and not letting anyone close to me! You're not better than the rest of us merely because no one knows you.”

“I never claimed that.”

It took me a lot to somewhat control myself and knew that I couldn't take much more of this. I opened the door and stepped aside to, again, give him enough space, “Leave,” I ordered coldly.

He did as he was told and I did want him gone for the moment, however, stopped him for a second with my words just as he passed me by, “Don't think I will stop this just like that. This is far from over.”

 

After he left, I closed the door and let angry thoughts take over my mind. I walked through the room for a couple of minutes to cool down as good as possible, although that was harder than it might sound. I wasn't just hurt because he pushed me away like that, I mostly felt insulted not to be given reason for his actions. All this time he had certainly shown interest in me that was not some ridiculous fantasy of mine and last night was the final proof for that. There was no way for me to fathom why he would lock himself away like that. He clearly was all about keeping himself a big secret, yet made no effort whatsoever not to get involved with anyone, or otherwise he would not have staff living with him and hosting monthly parties. My frustrations aside, for now all I could do was to continue as I had until now. Whatever his reasons were for acting so strange, he should know better than that. To even attempt to stop someone from digging any deeper by claiming the knowledge to be worse than to be left in the unknown was only adding to my curiosity and ambition to unravel all his mysteries.

 

Needless to say, I did not stop my investigations at all. Instead, I simply used different measures to get any further. For the time being I decided to stop talking to him directly as an attempt to understand him, seeing as this had never helped anyway. I was determined that the upper floor was all I needed to see, however, I was not planning on going up there without permission. However, the house was full of those wonderful antiques, which already gave a lot to think about, for example where he had gotten them from and why, especially taking into consideration that most antiques had no relation to another other than the fact that they were old. The dining hall, on the other hand, was rather remarkably uniformly. Everything in it was clearly from the same period – the early middle ages. There was the silver armor of a knight, fully restored. Of course a lot of people were in the possession of such thing, yet there was something different, more realistic about it than those of others. On the wall hung a cross bow, which looked terrifyingly real as well. Next to that hung a bunch of other weapons, mostly swords. And not just decorative swords, but real swords. They looked old, used, not fully complete. The blades had cracks or small fractions were missing even. There was also a dagger, a strangely beautiful one. Both the grip and the scabbard were red and patterned with golden embellishments. Overall it looked quite fancy and unique. It had caught my eye before, yet now was the first time I really thought about why this was the only room that was uniformly furnished. It wasn't much to hold against him, yet all I got. It was worth giving a shot.

Before I could have another thought, I heard a bunch of people talking. I remember having seen most of the staff outside alongside Mister Albion doing whatever they were doing. Apparently they had completed their task and came back now. Perfect.

I quickly grabbed the dagger before confidently rushing out of the dining hall in front of the stair case in order to prevent anyone from walking. Everyone immediately went quiet, noticing my anger.

Mister Albion stood right in front of me, since he had come from around the corner he hadn't seen me at first and had to abruptly stop as to not run into me. He was a bit confused about the situation, me just staring at him furiously, so I held up the dagger.

“You have an awful amount of weapons,” I remarked.

“It's called decoration, a lot of people have it,” was his slightly sarcastic reply.

I sighed angrily. He was quite brave to be making sarcastic remarks in front of an angry woman, “What a lot of people have are replications, these things all look used.”

“It gives it all more effect.”

“Where did you get them?”

He fell silent. Interesting, “Listen. I understand that you're mad, but that is no reason to be questioning my decorations-”

“ _Mad_?” I repeated angrily, “That's quite an understatement considering that you slept with me only to later on realize that you do not want to really be with anyone. Do you really think that makes me just _mad_?”

Everyone was clearly shocked, although I wasn't quite sure whether that was because of what I said or of my anger, “And while I'm being honest, I might as well tell you. Yes, I have come here simply because I was curious in who this mysterious man was everyone kept talking about and I'm not gonna lie, I still am. I'm respecting that you don't want to let anyone get close to you, it's your life, your choices. Do whatever the hell you want. But there are living people living and working here, for you. And I just so happen to be one of them. Because I was asked to do so and so here I am. And I think that we all deserve to have an idea of who we are working for exactly. You don't seem much like a criminal to me, but what does that matter? I'm not even asking for your life story, but it would only be fair to at least be given an explanation as to why you have a bunch of swords hanging on your wall, weapons that have obviously been used.”

While I was talking, his breath got heavier, a sign that I was making him mad. Not exactly what I wanted, but I certainly wasn't minding it either. Despite that, he remained calm as best as he could, “As you pointed out already, it is my choice. Besides, what does it matter? I pay you, that's the point of a job, isn't it? I can reassure you that those weapons are only here as decoration, not to stab someone with.”

“To me you look like some reach-born brat, what's weird to me is what it is you do exactly. You're friends with the Queen, consulting her about important choices she has to make, yet, despite that rather important position, no one even knows your name. But what's in a name? Not much unless you're a criminal, wouldn't you agree?”

There was a small smirk crossing his face, “There's much more in a name than criminal records. Names define us.”

“No they do not.”

“They can.”

“Maybe if you're famous.”

He shrugged, “You seem quite insistent on the whole criminal theory.”

“There is evidence.”

“Very interesting. That doesn't change the fact that you should stay away from things that don't concern you.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No,” he replied, “All I'm saying is that you're wasting your time.”

“Which is none of your concern seeing as this is my life and I can waste it however I want to.”

“Just leave it alone,” he cried out in annoyance.

“I won't.”

“If your only reason for staying is here is that, you might as well leave.”

I sighed in frustration, “Fine, have it your way!”

Before he or anyone else could say anything, I pushed the dagger against his chest to give it to him before walking upstairs and packing my bags. This, of course, was not helping me any further, however, I was far too furious at the moment to stay there any longer. I had been curious, was curious still, but I had promised myself never to ruin my life with a man, and he was certainly not going to change that. If he was being that insistent on spending the rest of his life on his own, then he should.

 


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

Moving back into my parents' house was not as pleasant as I had hoped it to be. Of course my father had to lecture me about my naïve decision to move in with a stranger and that I should, instead, marry someone that our family actually knew. I only rolled my eyes and went upstairs into my room.

 

Life was rather dull now. I mostly stayed in my room, spending my time there reading and writing. Whenever I was out of my room it was either to spend time with my friends or to work in a small shop in town. I did not like it. It was all so boring, unexcited, plain. I hated to admit it, but I had fallen in love. I had fallen in love with the wrong man.

 

“You shouldn't stop looking into this guy, you know,” said Scott one day in the bar.

“There's nothing I can do. I doubt he keeps some sort of diary where he writes his biography in, and even if he did, I wouldn't degrade myself to breaking into someone's rooms and disrespecting their privacy.”

He shrugged, “If you say so. Then you should talk it out.”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, “Because that has worked so well in the past. No, thank you. He is certain on not sharing his past with anyone and I'm no exception.”

“Well, then it might be better.”

“What do you mean?”

Scott leaned back, looking at me seriously, “What reason would one have to hide their past other than it being awful? We've all made mistakes and he seemed like a smart guy, so he should know that. That being said, if he still thinks no one should know about it, not even you, than it must be really terrible.”

Those words kept me thinking ever since then. I had never considered anything besides a criminal history. However, he didn't seem like a simple criminal. There had got to be more. Besides my ever-growing curiosity, there was a new emotion developing inside of me. I felt bad for him. Bad that he felt that he had to hide who he was to everyone. What could be so terrible? He and I didn't know each other for years, but I wasn't blind, I knew exactly that he wasn't disinterested in me at all. And yet he didn't trust me enough to open up. He didn't even seem to consider it. Nothing I came up with seemed logical enough to be too terrible to tell. I always felt that there was something different and special about him, nonetheless, I couldn't put my finger on what that was.

 

It was a few weeks later that my father knocked on my door.

“Come in,” I said and the door opened.

“Here, darling, this was in the mail today.”

I turned around to see what my father was talking about, knitting my eyebrows as I saw the envelope and then getting up, “What's this?”

“Some packaging for you apparently, It only has your name on it,” was all my father could say ere handing me the envelope and then leaving.

I stared at the envelope in my hands for a moment before opening it. Inside was a letter and a mysterious small bottle with some sort of beverage inside. How curious. After getting the bottle out and examining it, I placed it on my desk to read get out the letter and reading it.

 

“ _Dear Morgana,_

_I'm honestly sorry that you have heard of me and met me. I understand your frustration and your anger towards me more than you can imagine, but I do have my reasons for living my life the way I do and I didn't want for you to get involved. You may not think so at this point, yet I can assure you that an ordinary life is so much better than an exciting one. I haven't chosen being the person that I am and trust me, if I had known, I would have prevented you from ever meeting me now. I also am aware that you must be really confused at this point and for that I apologize too. It's just that I need you to just read this letter and try to think as less about my words as possible and instead just take them in._

_I know you better than you may think. And yes, that sounds a lot more creepy than it's supposed to, but it's the truth. I know that you want to what all my secrets are and that you don't want to give up until you've figured it out. But you already know that. I hoped that you would just let it go and get bored after realizing that you won't find anything out, which is one of the reasons why I let you stay. I'm sorry for how things have turned out, I wish I could explain it in more detail, but it would just confuse you. Anyhow, I have come to the conclusion that you deserve to know the truth, despite the fact that I want to keep it away from you. I'd love for you to live an ordinary life, yet I respect you and know that your life is up to you. So it's your decision. I know this is strange and I understand if you don't trust me at this point, but you have probably already noticed the bottle I sent alongside this letter. It's a potion that you can drink, should you decide to want to know the truth. You won't understand all of that now, but you would once you took it. All I can do now warn you that once you've taken that potion, there is no going back and your life will forever be changed._

_The choice is up to you._ ”

 

I stared at the letter for a little while longer in confusion. He was right, I couldn't make sense of his words at all. Especially the potion was confusing me. How would a potion answer any of my questions? It seemed only that potion would provide me any answers, so that was all I could do now apparently. Of course there was a quick thought warning me to take the potion, due to the possibility of it being poisonous, however, the letter was prove as to who it was from, even though there was no name on it. But my father would know who it was from and Mister Mysterious was certainly smarter than that. Obviously I did not have to take the potion, and as I had mentioned before, I was not gonna let some man ruin my life. But fact was, I wanted to know his secret. And life here was just boring. I don't know what the meaning of life is or what any of us are here for. I don't know if people have destinies or if we all just live with no further meaning to it. What I do know, though, is that this was my life. And I was given a choice. It was a risk, but I knew that, if I did not take that potion, I would spend the rest of my life wondering what I had missed out on.

Without another thought I put down the letter and took the potion in my hands instead. I raised my hand to be on the same level as my face to have a closer look at the potion. It was a light red, nothing fancy. I opened and removed the lid and carefully smelled it. The smell was indescribable, something I had never smelled before. It smelled neither good nor bad, which was more than fine for me. My heart was pounding in my chest, nervous as to what this potion was going to do. Then I drank it.

What happened next was a process too hard to explain well enough. Images, vivid as reality flashed before my eyes, sounds, smells, emotions, too. Memories of another life came to me. Memories of my old life. Memories of my life in Camelot.

The more I remembered, the more I understood, the more chaotic my mind and feelings became. My mind was going crazy, filling up with questions and thoughts that I could barely realize having, due to the amount of them. My emotions spreading like a wild fire within my body, like I was having all emotions had once. Confusion, anger, fear, relief, hatred. At some point I wasn't sure what I felt exactly and what I thought exactly. But one thought was burning in my mind more than any other: _Damn you, Merlin!_

 


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

 

There were weeks of silence. Whilst before one would say that I spent an awful amount of time in my room, after remembering I had only ever left my room to do things like eating or using the bathroom. I guess one could call it a crisis, yet no one would ever experience what I did. I had no idea how to deal with the entire situation and I felt alone, maybe even more than I had back in the day. I obviously did not tell my father, not like there was anything he could do. And yes, the first few days I spent by angrily cursing Merlin and having to hold myself back from murdering him, which was why it was better for me to stay in my room, on my own where I could harm no one. But after a few days of being mad at someone who wasn't even present, I decided to focus on other things. In a way it was fascinating, to live a different life. Things that I had grown up with here suddenly felt a bit strange, since they had not yet existed to Camelot times. Part of me was glad that I was a bit freer here, however, I was still a lot more oppresses than I should be. To be quite honest, I was a hopeless mess. My father noticed that there was something wrong with me and tried talking to me about it, but there was hardly anything I could tell him. Remembering also changed me, possibly needless to say. I was different here than I was back then, and those two mes sort of collided now. It was strange because both were me, yet they were two different lives and to combine them was as weird as the rest of the situation was. That was, initially, why I avoided not only my father, but anyone to interact with, out of fear that they would recognize the changes and confront me about them.

The change did not do a lot for me, or rather my public life, for I did not tell anyone about it. Yet whilst to the outside world I seemed unchanged, I felt like a different person, not sure who I was anymore.

 

After spending an enormous amount of time thinking about all those things and trying to find a cure for my crisis, I decided to do the one thing that I needed to do, the one thing that seemed like it could help at least a little bit. Confronting the one person that knew.

 

It had been a bit over a month since I had taken the potion, when I took my father's car and drove to the enormous mansion that I had lived and worked in for a couple of months. Needless to say, my heart was pounding the closer I got.

I pulled into the driveway and stopped the car in front of the wide stair case that led up to the front door. In just a matter of a few seconds I arrived at the door and banged against it. I heard footsteps approach shortly before the door was opened.

“Morgana,” Victor greeted me, surprised to see me.

He had always been very nice, however, I was too furious to even put on a fake smile right now and just stepped inside while I coldly asked, “Where is he?”

“In, uh, the garden,” Victor stuttered and before he could say anything I was already making my way there.

 

As soon as I stepped out of the door I could see him, standing by his goddamn trees.

“Merlin,” I hissed once I was behind him, stopping.

He turned around, a bit startled, most likely due to the fact that no one had called him that in a long time.

I flashed my eyes at him, waiting for an explanation, but none came.

“Get yourself together and talk!”

“I, erm... I'm sorry.”

“For what exactly?” I asked with a judgmental voice, “That you didn't help me even though you were the one person that could have? That you killed me because you didn't like that I turned my back on those that have turned their backs on me? That you didn't stop me from sleeping with you despite the fact that I wouldn't have if I had known? Or maybe that you still didn't find it necessary to tell me the truth about myself that you know?”

He still didn't say anything, but I could see in his eyes that he was truly sorry, “All of it,” he finally admitted quietly.

“It's a bit too late for that now, don't you think?” I asked, my voice now far more insecure than I had intended for it to be.

“That's why I waited to tell you. I- I wanted to keep you from those memories, to have a better life now.”

“A better life?” I laughed bitterly, “I'm a woman with no special talents here, how is that any better than being oppressed in Camelot?”

“Because your life isn't in danger here.”

“But I have a right to know.”

He nodded, “That's why I send you the potion. I would love to keep you from remembering those terrible times, how everyone treated you, how _I_ treated you. But I also know that keeping you from the truth again is only going to repeat the past, in a way. So now we can just continue where we left off. I understand, if you want to kill me right now, but you shouldn't. Not because I don't want to die, but because I don't want you to let me ruin your life again. However, if you do try to do that, just know that I won't stop you.”

I didn't say anything to that at first, and instead just watched him. He meant what he said, I could see that. He wasn't afraid to die. Well, he had been living for quite some time, which meant that he had had plenty of time to do and see everything he wanted to. Still, he honestly seemed to understand and accept my decision. Only problem was, that I was not going to.

“Why?”

“Why what?” He asked, suddenly looking confused.

“Why do you think I want to kill you?”

“Well, erm... an eye for an eye, I think?”

I sighed in frustration, “That's not going to change the past.”

He looked at me in surprise.

“Did you honestly think I would make it that easy for you?” I asked, threatening.

Now he looked a bit scared.

“You made my life hell, Merlin. You knew that I had magic and you knew what it was like being helpless, yet you turned your back on me to protect Arthur, like those things couldn't coexist.”

“Then what will you do?”

“I don't know yet. But I had to come here first and tell you that this isn't over yet. And I'll _never_ forget the things you've done to me,” I admitted, having to hold back tears.

Without another word, I turned around and left.

 


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

 

About a month after that conversation was another party. I decided to go.

I had spent the entire month thinking about what to do with my life now. I didn't know where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do or anything else. As much as I hated to admit it, my curiosity only grew. Merlin knew so much and was the only person who was able to answer any of my questions. I wondered a lot what happened after my death and especially, a rather frightening thought – What had happened to magic? I knew that people rarely believed in magic here, which was probably even worse than having it be outlawed. And I could only make up the wildest theories about how Merlin had gone from being Arthur's servant and secretly having magic to being this rich man throwing fancy parties. It was almost funny, how I knew so much more now, knew him so much better now, simultaneously my extended knowledge only added questions to my mind. Despite a big part of me not wanting to see him ever again, I knew I had to.

 

I arrived at the party rather late, not wanting to be there when there were only a few people already. Instead, I joined the party at around eleven. It almost seemed like the party was more lively than ever, the house filled with more people than ever before. That might have just been my imagination, though, for I was scanning the crowd for one specific person, which was quite the challenge. With a sigh I remembered that he sometimes did not even show up too much and that I might not find him at all because of that. To make matters worse, I could not spot a single person I knew from here either, which meant there was no one I could ask about where Merlin was. The house seemed to fill with more and more people and the music seemed to get louder, both only interfering with my search.

After spending roughly half an hour hopelessly searching in the crowded mansion, I decided that I needed some air and thus stepped outside, and I was immediately thankful for having put on a coat or otherwise the cool November night would have made me run back inside again right away. But I was fine and the cold was something I had gotten used to a long time ago already and so simply went to those three stupid trees of his, which additionally gave me some protection from the wind. As I stood right in front of them, though, the thought of the cold immediately vanished as I remembered what he had told me about them, making me laugh now that I understood what he had been talking about.

“I don't remember the trees being so funny.”

I turned around in a split second, more than startled as I had not heard anyone approach. In a way I felt relief, for the person I had been looking for stood right in front of me. It took me a few seconds to calm down again and be able to reply, “Oh, I just remembered, what you said to me, about the trees and how they are meaningful to you. _Most powerful of all trees_ , huh?”

Merlin blushed slightly, “Well, it's erm, what they say. About me.”

“Yes, you're quite the powerful tree,” I agreed with a sarcastic tone, which made him chuckle.

“What I like more,” I continued, “Is the _learning from the past_ tree. Have you?”

He smiled at me softly, nodding lightly, “It'd be a shame, if it weren't so.”

“Probably, yes.”

“I must admit, it's quite the surprise to see you here.”

“Oh, really? Did you really expect me to stay away, never to return to ask you why the hell you're running around wearing a fancy suit?”

He laughed, I suppose relieved that I wasn't yelling at him, “That was not exactly the question I thought you'd ask.”

“Don't worry, I've got a lot of those.”

“Okay.”

“But,” I said seriously, “That does not mean anything. I've simply got a lot of questions I need to get answers to. But I'm still mad at you.”

“Morgana,” he began after a few seconds of silence.

I looked him in the eyes, waiting for a reply. At first I had thought he didn't continue because he just wanted to build up suspense and curiosity, yet there was something else in his eyes. Insecurity. Whatever he was about to say, he wasn't sure of it.

“I know you probably don't ever want to talk to me again after I've answered all those questions you're having. I respect that, but there is something I'd like to ask of you... I'm not asking you to ever forget what I did and especially did not do or to forgive me for that matter. I do ask you, though, to at least try to move on with me. I know you don't have any reason to do so, it's just that should we leave things as they are now then I doubt that either of us is really going to be able to move on from things and get closure. And I know I can't even in the slightest make up my past mistakes, but I'd like to try doing that at least a little bit. It would be nice to finally leave the past behind. Also we both will be sticking around for quite a while so I figured it would be nicer for the both of us to somewhat get along.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused about the last part.

He looked at me, unsure of what I meant.

“The _we both will be sticking around_ part, how do you mean that?”

“I meant since we both won't just die like that.”

“I don't understand.”

“But- it was even the last thing you said to me, remember? _No mortal blade can kill me_ , ring a bell?”

I opened my eyes widely in surprise, “You mean I'm still immortal?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, saying it like it was the most logical thing in the world.

“But why? Just because I've been reborn, doesn't mean- You must've figured already that I'm no High Priestess anymore.”

Now he was the one looking at me in surprise, “What? You mean you don't believe you have magic?”

“I'm twenty-one, I'm sure I would have noticed that by now if I had.”

“Oh, no, I'm sure you wouldn't remember before. But since you _remember_. The potion merely made you remember the past, if your past life was not a part of you anymore, you would not have been able to remember. With that, your magic is still there, too. It's a part of you, you just didn't know it, just as you did not remember your past life.”

I blinked a couple times to make myself realize that this was not a dream, “You mean I- I still have magic?”

“Try it out.”

I raised my hands in front of my chest and held them flat as a sort of base. It took me a few seconds until I remembered a spell that did not include harming someone. My heart was pounding, nervous should this not work out, excited if it should. When I finally whispered a spell, still nervous, it did not take long for a small flame to form above my hands. Out of all the excitement a big grin formed on my face. I then turned off the flame and looked at Merlin, thankful, “I still have magic.”

“It's who you are,” he smiled at me lightly before quickly adding, “Amongst others.”

“It would make no sense to continue a war that lies long behind this time. And I suppose we can both agree on wanting me to lead a peaceful life now. I don't know if I'll be able to, but... I'd like to try to move on. With you,” I admitted softly.

A small smile crossed his face then, “That would be nice.”

“But first,” I continued, “You must promise me something. No secrets anymore, got it? Otherwise this is not going to work.”

Merlin nodded in agreement, “I agree. No secrets it is.”

“Good. Then we can start with one secret you're having: That secret floors of yours. I want to see it.”

“Okay,” he said before halfway turning back to the house, symbolizing me to follow him.

 

The two of us walked back inside, where the crowd was still present, enjoying the music and general happy atmosphere. Meanwhile, the two of us made our way through it and upstairs. Merlin opened the first door and let me go inside first, standing in a room that only had a spiral staircase inside. I waited for him to close the door and walk up the stairs first, me following him behind. Upstairs we stood in a small hallway. There was only one door and, who would have thought, that was the door we went to. Merlin opened the door and stepped inside, me still behind. I followed him slowly in order to take it all in.

We now stood inside his bedroom, which did not look very different to the one I had downstairs. I then noticed that there were two more doors, one presumably for the bathroom, and the other most likely the reason this floor was such a secret. Merlin stood quietly right next to it, watching me observe the room. Because it was just a bedroom, I did not want to look around it too much, so instead joined him at the door. After he opened it, he stepped aside to let me go in first. I slowly went in, immediately amazed. The room was enormous, covering most of the floor. Admittedly, the room over-whelmed me. It was like standing in a small museum, filled with all of history. I slowly made my way through the room, carefully looking at everything. Never in my life had I seen something that incredible. That room contained so many wonderful things, showing the development of the world from Camelot to now. It was the most impressive room I had ever been in and there were hardly any words that would bring justice to how incredible it was exactly.

For a moment I was lost in one of the antiques standing in a shelf, when my eye caught something at the end of the room. I immediately went over it, though I approached it rather slowly as if scared to have it disappear otherwise.

As soon as I had reached the wall my mouth fell open, a bit shocked to see those things again. I had found the wall of all kinds of things from Camelot. Books, weapons, bags, boxes and even the clothes Merlin used to wear, including those ridiculous neckerchiefs he used to wear all the time. I caught myself smiling, it somehow felt good to see things so familiar again.

“There are certain things I couldn't just leave behind,” Merlin quietly explained, suddenly standing right behind me which startled me a bit.

“This entire room must be worth a fortune,” I breathed, impressed by all those wonderful antiques.

He nodded, “For a historian, yes. For me, these things are beyond price. Inanimate things are, after all, the only things that will remain.”

I turned around with a small chuckle, “You don't look much like an inanimate thing.”

“Huh,” Merlin replied speechlessly, which made me smirk a little.

“The room is already quite filled. What will you do once it has no space left?”

“A very good question. I have no idea to be honest. Maybe get a new house? Houses don't stay forever after all. But there's still some time left until then.”

“Merlin?”

“Yes?”

“I hope that old bedroom of mine is still available?”

A surprised smile formed on his lips, “You want to move back in?”

“Someone has to keep an eye on you. Besides, the house is so filled tonight, obviously someone has to do something about this mess of a party. And if we want to move on, it'd be best to not be apart from another too much. Besides, I'd like to have a closer look at your life. See how you spend it and all.”

There was this sweet smile of his again, the one he used to have in Camelot before things got difficult, “Sounds like a good plan.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading - I appreciate any feedback from you guys to show me what you like/dislike about this work.   
> I do hope that you overall enjoyed reading this work and if so, I have good news for you: This is only the beginning! Maybe you already saw that this is part of a series. The next story is called 'Against Destiny' And you can already check it out! Thanks once again for reading - I hope you have a lovely day :-)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Reviews would help me a lot, so please give feedback :-)


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